When a fisherman is casting with a fishing rod, there is a tendency for the rod to slip out of the fisherman's hand and fly into the water and especially if the handle of the rod is wet. Also, the rod may be pulled from the fisherman's hand when a large fish strikes or if the hook catches a snag while trailing a rapidly moving boat.
To improve the fisherman's grip and help prevent loss of the rod, Lochen U.S. Pat. No. 2,522,625 discloses a rod having a handle with a finger hole therethrough. The index finger may be inserted through the hole to help the fisherman maintain a firm hold on the handle.
A somewhat similar arrangement is disclosed in Popell U.S. Pat. No. 4,027,419 in which the handle of the rod is formed with a relatively large slot for receiving all four fingers.
While the handles disclosed in the Lochen and Popell patents help improve the hold on the rod, such handles are of a special type requiring special manufacture and are of no use to a fisherman who owns a conventional or ordinary rod. Loutrel U.S. Pat. No. 2,283,816 discloses a detachable finger grip attachment but that attachment is of complex and relatively costly construction.